


Engine Failure

by zarrati



Series: Tumblr Prompts and Drabbles [9]
Category: Parks and Recreation
Genre: Alternate Universe, F/M, Relationship Fluff, car break downs, road trip au
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-10-17
Updated: 2015-10-17
Packaged: 2018-04-26 13:42:29
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,607
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5006878
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/zarrati/pseuds/zarrati
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Leslie thought the worst thing that could happen was being forced to go to Indianapolis with the guy she's trying to avoid weird, tension-y situations with. She should have known it was about to get worse--much worse.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Engine Failure

**Author's Note:**

> Based on a prompt from Tumblr for an alternate end to Road Trip where Ben's car breaks down on their way to Indy

The sultry tones of Al Green were wafting through the speakers when the car gave a sudden jerk. Ben was able to guide it to the side of the road before the engine completely died.

“Oh, my God, what happened?” Leslie asked.

“I have no idea,” Ben replied. “Let me go look under the hood.”

After about five minutes, Ben came back inside the car and attempted to start the engine, but to no avail.

Leslie looked over expectantly. “Do you know what’s wrong?”

“Uh, to be honest, I know nothing about cars.” He rubbed the back of his neck. “I just checked under the hood because it felt like something I was supposed to do.”

Leslie groaned. “And we’re still at least an hour outside of Indianapolis.”

“Don’t worry. I’ll call Triple A and get them to tow us to the nearest shop, and maybe you can call someone willing to drive us up so we don’t miss the meeting.”

“Okay, yeah. That sounds good.”

Fifteen minutes later, Leslie called every person she could think of and Ben was still on hold.

“Anything?” he asked.

“No. Ann got called in to work a double shift at the hospital, Chris is in a meeting for another two hours, and I tried calling the Parks Department, but no one answered. What about you?”

“Still on hold-oh wait. Yes, hello. Are you sure that’s the best you can do? We have an important…Yes, I understand. Thank you.” He hung up the phone and sighed.

“Well?”

“They said it’ll probably be at least three hours before they can get a tow truck out here.”

“Three hours! That’s ridiculous.”

“Yeah, ironically enough, half of their tow trucks are out for repair.”

“So we’re stuck here.”

Ben shrugged. “Pretty much, yeah.”

“Alone.”

“Mmhmm.”

“Just the two of us.”

“Uhm, that’s usually what it means.”

“Crap.”

* * *

 

In an attempt to occupy herself and not dwell on the fact that she was stranded in a car with the one person she was trying to combat sexual feelings for, Leslie reread the tournament guidelines.

“Did you see this? According to their rules, we might not have enough hotel rooms within city limits.”

After over twenty minutes of silence, Ben seemed eager to talk. “I know. It’s a silly rule, but maybe they’ll be reasonable and not care.”

“Yeah, maybe we can just point out to them that there are tons of hotel rooms just outside city limits.”

“Uh huh.”

She flipped through the pages mindlessly. “Have you been to the Grandville Hotel and Spa?”

He shook his head.

“They have the softest towels,” she said with a smile.

“Oh, I gotta tell you, I love a nice towel in my life.”

Leslie giggled. “I know, me too.”

“It’s the simplest luxury, but it makes all of the difference.”

He was smiling at her, and Leslie couldn’t help but lean back against the headrest and smile back. “Their bathmats are amazing. It’s like stepping on a lamb.”

He mirrored her position, his head back and looking at her as they both laughed.

The way he was staring at her caused her stomach to flutter, bringing her back to reality. She was supposed to be anti-seducing him, and here she was talking to him about hotel rooms and giggling like a child.

She sat back upright and looked away. “Well, it might not matter. It doesn’t look like we’re gonna make it to Indianapolis on time anyway, so this whole trip is gonna be a waste.”

Her response was harsher than she intended, but it seemed to do the trick. “Yeah, I’m really sorry about this. That’s what I get for driving a Saturn, right?”

She chuckled despite herself and felt a little ashamed for snapping at him. “No, it’s not your fault. I’m sorry. I’m just a little on edge, I guess. I, uh, don’t like being late to things, you know.”

“Oh, yes, I am well aware of that,” he joked.

“No need to get snarky. You do still drive a Saturn. This car’s, what, almost ten years old? You must have seen this coming.”

“Now, who’s being snarky?”

“I’m just pointing out a fact,” she shrugged innocently. “Not trying to pry or anything, but why do you still have this car? I know you got paid well by the state and weren’t home much. I guess I figured you’d drive something slightly newer.”

“I never saw the need when I was in Indianapolis. I mean, we traveled all of the time using a company car, and I was almost never home, so it didn’t seem important. I was always waiting until I got a more steady job and established myself. I guess I was waiting until I found a place to call home.”

“I can understand that.”

He looked at her out of the corner of his eye. “If it makes a difference, I started looking at new cars a few weeks ago.”

It did make a difference. It shouldn’t have, but it did, and Leslie felt like she was suffocating. She fiddled with the door handle, trying to make some kind of escape.

“It’s, uhm, getting a little stuffy in here-”

“Oh, I can crack some windows-”

“No! I’m just gonna step outside for a little and stretch my legs. Maybe see if I can get a hold of someone at the Parks Office again.”

She was out of the car before she could see his shoulders slump.

* * *

 

“How long has it been now?”

Ben looked at his watch. “About two hours.”

“Ugh, this is the worst.”

“I don’t know, I’ve had worse company.”

He flashed her a toothy smile and Leslie wanted to duct tape his mouth shut. Or make out with him. Or both.

“Did you mean what you said before? About calling Pawnee home?”

“Yeah, I did. I’ve been all over the state, and I can honestly say that I was wrong before. Pawnee is special, and I love that I get to live there.”

"Well, we love having you.”

“Yeah? Well, good.” He turned in his seat to fully face her. “Because I mean it, and I always look forward to the moments in my day when I get to hang out with..the town. And eat hamburgers in front of wallflower murals with..the town. And I pretended that I was upset at the town sending me dozens of emails during the shutdown, but I secretly kinda liked it.”

Leslie looked away shyly.

“And I’ve never seen a town with more beautiful blond hair, either. Not to mention how much I like that the town has written a shocking number of political biographies.”

She smiled. “I think I get it.”

“I hoped you would.”

After a few moments, she grimaced and put her head in her hands. “Oh, God.”

“I’m sorry, and I know with Chris’ rule we can get into trouble, but I just can’t take this anymore, and I feel like we have to at least talk about it. We still have at least another hour before anyone comes to get us, so I figured why not now?” A slight look of panic streaked across his face. “I mean it’s not just me, right?”

Leslie wanted to lie, run away, anything to get out of this, but she couldn’t fight it anymore.

“No, it’s not just you.”

Ben released a sigh of relief. “That’s good to hear. After the trip today, I wasn’t sure.”

“Oh, no. See, because of whatever this thing is between us, I got scared and was doing my best to anti-seduce you.”

“It’s gonna take a bit more than sweats and a really awful driving mix to do that.”

She bit her lip. “I just don’t know what to do, Ben. We both love our jobs, and this could seriously jeopardize that. I don’t know if it’s worth the risk.”

Ben reached tentatively for her hand, smiling when she didn’t pull away. “I know that, really I do, but I want to at least try. We can do our best to keep it a secret for as long as we need to, but I don’t want to regret not giving us a chance out of fear.

“Please don’t think I’m saying this to guilt you into anything and I’ll respect any decision you make, but you were a big part of my decision to move here. I’ve never met anyone like you, Leslie, with your passion and enthusiasm and genuine care for the people around you—It’s real for me. And if you’re willing to give us a chance, I’m all in.”

She stared at their joined hands and was surprised that she had no desire to pull away. She was still afraid, but that fear seemed so inconsequential now. She wanted him. She wanted him like she hasn’t wanted anyone in a very long time, and Leslie Knope always went after what she wanted.

“Yes,” she whispered, looking up at him.

Ben’s eyes widened and his lips twisted into the happiest smile Leslie had ever seen. “Yeah?”

She nodded before moving a hand to his neck and crushing his lips to hers. She’d imagined countless times what he’d taste like, but even her wildest fantasies didn’t do him justice.

Their kisses grew frantic, and Leslie bashed her hip into the center console in an attempt to crawl into Ben’s lap.

“You know the one plus side to this old car?” Ben mumbled into her lips. “Big back seat.”

“I love the way you think.”

* * *

 

The tow truck was over an hour later than expected, but neither occupant seemed to mind.


End file.
